


They Want You To Do What

by NalgeneWhore



Category: Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Alternate Universe - Army, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:15:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22760836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NalgeneWhore/pseuds/NalgeneWhore
Summary: tumblr prompt: “They want you to do what!?” Prompt for Rowaelin. :)
Relationships: Aelin Ashryver Galathynius | Celaena Sardothien/Rowan Whitethorn
Kudos: 41





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr prompt: “They want you to do what!?” Prompt for Rowaelin. :)

“Galathynius,” they jumped and Rowan held a finger to his lips, shaking his head as he mouthed ‘Quiet’. The voice outside the door continued, “Inspection in 20 minutes.”

They heard footsteps walk away and began shaking with laughter. “We’re not supposed to do this, right?” Aelin said, laughing as she pressed her lips to his, feeling his smile.

“No, no,” he threaded his fingers through her hair, out of her standard issue bun for once. “We are not. But I think Fleetfoot can keep a secret, what do you think?”

They both turned to look at the German Shepherd lying at the foot of her bed, staring up at Aelin with big, molten brown eyes. “Yes, she can. Won’t you, darling?”

The dog barked softly and they laughed again, turning back to each other and their lips met in a soft embrace.

She made a sound in the back of her throat and Rowan groaned beneath her, his head falling back into her headboard. “You’re gonna kick me out, is that it?”

“Sorry, baby! I got to clean, if I don’t make inspection again you know that Salvaterre is gonna give me shit duty, literally.”

Rowan laughed, “I know, ok. I’m up and gone,” he moved her and kissed her one last time, walking to the door and poking his head out, making sure the coast was clear.

Evidently, it was and Rowan left with a wink thrown over his shoulder.

The door shut with a soft click and she rolled onto her stomach, looking her dog right in the eyes. “I think we’re in trouble, girlie.”

Fleetfoot made a face and Aelin hit her lightly with a pillow, “Oh, really? Just me? I’m hurt, girl.”

She barked and Aelin rose, “Don’t need to tell me twice, I am not suffering through shit duty for another week.”

++++++

“How do you feel, A?”

She groaned, lying on her stomach on Rowan’s bed. “Sore. And it hurts.”

His silver brows drew tighter, “Where?”

She propped herself on her elbows, cracking her neck. “Eh, my neck, my shoulder. Back sometimes. And my arches, my feet like all the time.”

He hummed, “What about a massage?”

“Oh really?” She sat up and placed her feet in Rowan’s lap, his hands picking on of them up and rubbing soothing circles that almost had her crying they were that good.

“You’re a war hero, I’m pretty sure you deserve to have your feet rubbed every now and again.”

Aelin laughed at his response and then conversation flowed until they stopped talking and tangled in the sheets, skin on skin.

After, she laid on her side, her head on Rowan’s chest, her fingers tracing little circles on his ribcage.

“Do you think it was wrong for me to not re-upp?”

He hummed again, his fingers stalling slightly in her hair but they started again. “No, I think that you went through something really shitty and it was your choice and your choice alone to decide. So no, I think you chose what you needed.”

She smiled and lifted her head, kissing his lips softly. Without pulling away, she asked him, “When’s your contract over?”

He kissed her back, pushing her hair over her shoulder. “It was over a week ago. And I’m theirs for another 51.”

Aelin pulled back, a hand stopping him when he followed. “Wait. They want you to do what?”

Confusion flooded his eyes, “They don’t _want_ me to do anything, I re-upped my contract. That was always the plan. You knew that.”

“Yeah but I thought,” she gasped, tears burning in her eyes, “I though it changed. Why didn’t you say anything?”

Fleetfoot whined from the floor beside them, distressed at her handler’s rising panic.

“You didn’t say anything when you decided to leave, why should me re-upping be any different?”

She climbed out of bed, pulling and buckling her pants.

“A, why are you acting like this? What is happening?”

“Ro, I can’t, you didn’t say anything for a week!”

“So?! I found out from Salvaterre that you weren’t re-enlisting, you don’t get to react this way!”

“You knew how I would feel, don’t act like this is something completely out of the ordinary!”

She bent down and clipped Fleetfoot’s leash to her collar, clicking her tongue and the dog stood up and they walked to the door.

“Aelin, please, don’t do this, don’t end us.”

She paused in the doorway, looking back at him with sad eyes, “Good luck, Whitethorn.”


	2. Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tumblr prompt: AS YOUR MOTHER I DEMAND A PART TWO FOR THE AU WHERE ROWAN RE-ENLISTED BUT AELIN DIDN'T AND SHE WALKED OUT ON HIM

“Name and ID, please.”

“Hi Ress, how y’all doing?” She handed the guard her issued liscense and he smiled easily at her.

“Doing fine, Chaol’s working us to the bone like usual.”

She laughed, “Of course he is.”

“You here for the retirement ceremony?”

Aelin nodded, “Yup, they finally took Fleetfoot off active duty and I’m adopting her!”

“Oh, nice! You can go on through, now.”

She smiled once more at the young guard, “Thank you, Ress. I’ll see you later!”

He waved at her as she drove her car through the base, once home to her.

She parked just outside the field and got out, walking towards it and passing a row of neat housing units. A group of soldiers spilled out of one, people she was familiar with. The Cadre were laughing and pushing each other around until Salvaterre saw her and nudged the others and they all stopped.

Her eyes were on one person only, Rowan.

He looked at her, pain but happiness in his green eyes, ones she could never forget about regardless of the time and distance she put between them.

“Hey.”

He startled a little, almost surprised that she had spoken. “Hey, what are you doing here? Fen said you were in Perranth.”

She chuckled, tapping her toe on the ground and avoiding his gaze, an uncomfortable air settling around them. “It’s Fleetfoot’s retirement ceremony and I’m adopting her.”

“Oh, congrats.”

She bobbed her head, not really a nod. “Uh, yeah.” She glanced down at her watch, “I better go, it’s starting soon.”

“Yeah, well, it was nice seeing you, Galathynius.”

She tried to pretend that her heart didn’t clench when he called her by her last name and she walked by them, back straight and head up, determined not to let him rattle her even after all these years. She tried to tell herself that it was nothing, the feelings were not real and everything she had felt was the remnants of young love and lust.

As she saw the dogs walk across the field and Fleetfoot broke loose, charging for her and tackling her, she laughed and smiled, pure joy at seeing her dog again, her heart still hurt for the man with the green eyes she would dream about forevermore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im also on tumblr @nalgenewhore! (i post there more regularly)


	3. Part Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tumblr prompt: part three pls you’re hurting my rowaelin feelings 😭 can you fix this mess and have rowan chase after aelin and have a proper heart-to-heart? I feel the need to be as specific as possible thx

“Ro, you good, brother?”

He scowled at Lorcan, knocking back his whiskey shot, savouring the burn that accompanied the amber drink. “Am I good? Fuck no, idiot.”

Lorcan frowned at him, something glittering in his dark, dark eyes. He bit his tongue, knowing that Rowan would not be able to take what he ached to say. He turned to the bartender, signaling to her. “Can I get a bottle of Jack and a shot glass?” He glanced down at Rowan, “Make that two bottles.”

He sat down next to Rowan and laid a heavy hand on his shoulder. “Hey. Hey, look at me, Ro.”

Rowan turned his head, his green eyes devastated. “What.”

“It’s gonna be alright, ok? You’re gonna get over this like always.”

He shook his head, nodding a thanks to the bartender as she placed their bottles in front of them. “What if I don’t?”

Lorcan breathed out slowly and cracked the cap, pouring them both a long shot. “Drink,” he commanded and Rowan followed his order, wincing at the sting.

“I’m never getting over her. I can’t. She’s got this hold on me, I can’t ever let go. An-and I don’t want to let go. I don’t want to ever be at a point in this life where I see her as my old life. Fuck, Lor. She’s everything, past, present and future, it’s all her.”

He poured another shot and knocked it back. He closed his eyes and rested his forehead on the wood bar, perpetually sticky and flecked with scars. Seeing Aelin that day killed him.

She had been beautiful as a young woman but the years of civilian life had treated her well.

He remembered how she looked, swaggering and confident but it had all been covering up heartbreak and trauma. Her sides and edges had been sharp and he had always been careful to touch her, knowing she could cut him just as easily as she could heal him.

Now, she was a vision. Her eyes were still wickedly bright, that fire still raging inside her but it had been tamed. It burned inside her and warmed everything around her.

Hours later, Lorcan dropped his drunk ass off at home, chuckling at him as he advised him to sleep it off and he would see him in the morning.

Rowan tossed and turned until he couldn’t stand it anymore, throwing himself out of bed and grabbing his sweater, pulling the hood over his silver hair and running through the base to where he knew Aelin would be staying.

He pounded on the door, smiling slightly at her cursing as she opened the door and his heart stopped. Fleetfoot poked her head between Aelin and the door, wagging her tail at the sight of him.

“Hey, Ace.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im also on tumblr @nalgenewhore! (i post there more regularly)


	4. Part Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tumblr prompt: I REALLY HOPE ROWAN SAYS SOMETHING STUPID AND AELIN KICKS HIM OUT AGAIN PLS???

“Rowan, what are you doing here?”

He recoiled slightly at her harsh voice, her face not warming and the fire in her eyes turned to ice.

“I wanted to see you, can I come in?”

Aelin frowned but then Fleetfoot whined and she sighed, “Yeah, I guess. Come in.”

She opened the door and he slipped by her, still out of his depths with the amount of alcohol in his body.

As he went in past her, she made a face. “Mala above, how much did you drink?”

He sat on the bed, holding his head in his hands. “Don’t remember.”

She sighed, “What did you want to talk about?”

Rowan shut his eyes, cursing himself. “Everything. What happened, what happened to us? I was in love with you and I only wanted you to love me back.”

She jumped up, getting in his face and snarling at him, “Fuck you, Whitethorn. Don’t you dare say I didn’t love you. You re-enlisted and didn’t say a fucking word.”

“So? You didn’t and didn’t say anything to me!”

She scoffed and crossed her arms, “What you did was putting you at risk, I couldn’t have been deployed again.”

“But you were moving, you weren’t going to be on base anymore and I couldn’t live without you.”

“Do you really think these years and what happened was any easier for me? I lost you.”

Her voice trembled and Rowan’s head snapped up, surprised. “Ace?”

She breathed out, tilting her head back to stop the tears. It didn’t work. “You told me there was nothing that could keep you from me, that you would rip apart worlds to get to me. I wasn’t even two blocks away and you didn’t try. You didn’t call, you didn’t text. Fuck, I saw y’all in the bar and you ignored me.”

He opened his mouth to say something but she held up a hand, “All I know is that I walked out and you didn’t try. So don’t expect me to listen to you when it’s been _years_.”

He stayed silent, knowing she had made up her mind.

“Don’t get drunk and think you can come here, when I’m happy, and act like you deserve anything. I have nothing to give you, nothing I _want_ to give you. So get out.

“Forget about me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im also on tumblr @nalgenewhore! (i post there more regularly)


	5. Part Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tumblr prompt: FIX THIS IN PART FIVE PLEASE (come on Aelin, you were so close by and never tried to fix it either dammit. you two need to get your shit together or else)

Rowan stood beside the Cadre, scanning the crowd at their ceremony. 

He was barely listening, sharing knowing glances with Lorcan that told him all he needed to know. 

This ceremony was bullshit and fixed nothing. 

Gavriel laid dead in a casket and a fucking medal wouldn’t bring him back. 

The prime minister stepped in front of each of the remaining members. They all tensed as the Medal of Honour was pinned to their jackets, their eyes becoming blank and far away, the scene of Gavriel’s body being shot at flashing through his mind. 

As they walked off the stage to the sound of polite clapping, he wasn’t there anymore. Instead, he was back in that desert, reaching out to Gavriel to get him to sit down but then a bullet ripped through the Lion’s throat, a storm of them punching through his body as Rowan stayed down, tears cutting through the dust that was caked on his face. He cursed himself day in and day out for what he didn’t do. 

His brothers told him that it wasn’t his fault, if he did something, he would’ve died too. 

He wished he had. 

A flash of golden hair had him tripping, Fenrys’ hand on his arm saving him from eating shit. 

Aedion walked to the casket, tears dripping off his face unashamedly. Aelin stood walked next to him, supporting him as he looked down at the corpse of his father. 

It had been a year since she had told him to forget about her, almost to the day. Without really realizing what he was doing, he shrugged off Fenrys and walked over to the casket, clearing his throat and watching Aelin’s eyes, those damn eyes that were burned in his mind, fill with pain and what seemed like hope before they blanked.

Rowan almost choked when her arms came around his waist. “I’m so sorry, Ro. I miss him too.”

He hesitated to hug her back but when she didn’t let go, he wrapped his arms around her, bending slightly. “Thanks, Ace.” 

Aedion broke behind Aelin, his sob ripping through him and Aelin spun, holding her cousin and protector. She said words that were too low for him to hear but he stayed anyway, letting himself look down at Gavriel, his face honourable and observant even in death. His breath hitched and his vision became misty. He couldn’t be here anymore. 

He walked past the cousins, storming to where Lorcan waited under a tree, his face emotionless. Rowan didn’t know what he’d do without him. What any of them would have done. Lorcan was their rock, their anchor, grounding them. 

When he was close enough to read the devastation swimming in his black eyes, a hand wrapped around his bicep. He looked down to see Aelin standing there, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. “Ro, I just want to say I’m sorry.”

The tears in her eyes fell and he turned to face her fully, cupping her face and wiping the tears away. “I know, Ace. I’m sorry too.”

“Can we stop being sorry and just be again?”

He nodded, “I think I’d like that very much.”

She smiled through her tears and wound her hands around his neck, pulling him down until their lips were a hairsbreadth away.

“You gonna walk out on me again? Take Fleetfoot from me?”

She laughed that laugh, the one that he heard echoes of in his dreams. “I think she missed you even more than me.”

He finally kissed her, a soft press of their lips. “You missed me?”

“Maybe a little, don’t let it go to your head,” she chuckled, kissing him back.

“Too late for that, Fireheart.”

**Author's Note:**

> im also on tumblr @nalgenewhore! (i post there more regularly)


End file.
